WPP acquires US influencer marketing agency Village Marketing

Holding company WPP has acquired influencer marketing agency Village Marketing. 

Village Marketing, which has led creative campaigns for Nike, Netflix, Equinox and the Honest Company, will join the Wunderman Thompson North American network. For now, Village Marketing will retain its name. 

Women-led Village Marketing, which was founded by Vickie Segar in 2013, has 150 employees; it was launched to build brands in a social media and mobile-first world. Segar will retain her title and report to Wunderman Thompson CEO Audrey Melofchik.

The acquisition is part of WPP's growth strategy of using mergers and acquisitions to strengthen its capabilities in marketing, communications and design. The holding company bought branding and design agency Made Thought at the end of last year. WPP’s PR firms include BCW and Hill+Knowlton Strategies, as well as the Ogilvy network.

Segar sees the acquisition as a way to change the misunderstood and undervalued creator economy. In a statement she called the deal “a massive opportunity for us to leverage the expertise of a global leader to both turbocharge our investment in the creator economy and integrate influencer marketing into the broader marketing ecosystem."

Last summer, WPP also acquired AI technology company Satalia to promote AI capabilities across the company and help shape the holding company’s AI strategy. Satalia also joined Wunderman Thompson. 

WPP is set to report its earnings for Q4 and all of 2021 on Thursday. In Q3 2021, the company saw strong momentum as like-for-like revenue growth in its PR division rose 16% year-over-year.